Exegesis of the verses of Surat al-Qiyamah: Nay, when it reaches the throat

Question:
This Sudanese brother says: Honorable Shaykh, what is the meaning of the noble verses in Surat al-Qiyamah: ?

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. In these noble verses, there is a reminder of the dying process and the presence of death, so that a person remembers this and visualizes it, and repents to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) before facing this terrifying and frightening scene. Prepare for it with righteous deeds and repentance to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). "When it reaches" means when the soul reaches the trachea. The trachea is well known; it is the bones around the neck. Every person has two collarbones, a right and a left. The soul of the dying person is gathered from his body, then it rises to his throat and reaches the trachea, and then the angel, the Angel of Death, seizes it. Allah (Exalted is He) reminds us of this, and no one knows when this will happen to a person except Allah (Exalted is He) . And He is near; everything that is coming is near. So a person should be sound and not be heedless of death. It was said, "Who is behind him?" It was said that its meaning is that the angels ask one another: Who is the one who ascends with his soul and raises it to the sky?
Do the angels of mercy seize it and raise it to Allah, opening the gates of the sky for it, and then Allah commands it to return to the earth? Or do the angels of punishment seize it and take it to the lowest part of the Hellfire, where it withers? It was also said that the intended meaning is that the people of the deceased seek ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation) for him, seeking someone to perform ruqyah for him in hope of healing, but the time has passed, so neither ruqyah nor medicines nor anything else is of any benefit.
"And he thought" means the dying person, meaning he was certain. "Thought" here means certainty. He was certain that this is the parting, that this is the death, the parting from the world, the parting from family and loved ones, the parting from wealth. It is the parting after which there is no return to the world. He thought it was the parting. "And the leg is bent over the leg." It was said that this means that the deceased, due to the intensity of the distress, places one leg over the other due to the intensity of the pain. It was also said that "the leg is bent over the leg" is a metaphor for the severity that the dying person encounters in this state. . So he returns to Allah, and all creation returns to Allah (Mighty and Majestic): their believers and disbelievers, their righteous and their sinners; all of them return to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Then and to Allah is the return. Allah (Exalted is He) is the one to whom the return and the destination are. "To your Lord on that day is the destination." He (Exalted is He) said regarding the state of this dying person: "No truthfulness and no prayer." No truthfulness in his life, no faith in Allah, and no prayer.
This highlights the importance of prayer and the obligation of prayer at its appointed times. So what is the state of this one who is negligent in his prayer? He did not believe in Allah, did not believe in the resurrection, and did not pray. So he coupled the abandonment of prayer with the denial of the resurrection, which indicates the greatness of prayer and that the one who abandons it disbelieves. The one who abandons it intentionally disbelieves. But "denied and turned away": denied in contrast to truthfulness, and turned away in contrast to praying. Because the one who prays is facing Allah, and the one who abandons prayer is turning away from Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh